Cycling in 2001

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In 2001 American rider Lance Armstrong sealed his place in cycling history when he became the fifth man to win the Tour de France, the sport’s premier event, in at least three successive years, joining Louison Bobet (1953–55), Jacques Anquetil (1961–64), Eddy Merckx (1969–72), and Miguel Indurain (1991–95). The Texan finished 6 min 44 sec ahead of Germany’s Jan Ullrich after 3,454 km (about 2,146 mi) of racing, establishing his superiority with a commanding display of strength on the mountain stages. Armstrong won successive road-race and time-trial legs in the Alps before taking the overall lead for the first time three days later in the Pyrenees. A fourth win followed in the last time-trial stage, two days before the event finished in Paris. Erik Zabel of Germany won the points competition, based on daily finishing positions over the 20 stages and intermediate sprints, for a record sixth time.

The sport’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), in April introduced a new “health check” testing procedure in the quest to eradicate the use of the human hormone erythropoietin (EPO). The UCI required any rider whose blood test showed a hematocrit level—the functional level of red blood cells as a percentage of total blood plasma—above the considered-safe level of 50% to submit to a urine test. Italy’s Fabiano Fontanelli was the first rider to be excluded from a race, the Tour of Flanders on April 8, for an overly high hematocrit reading and to then take a urine test, which did not reveal any trace of EPO.

At the Tour of Italy (Giro d’Italia), second in importance to the Tour de France, police and customs officials mounted raids on hotels where riders were staying after the June 6 stage in San Remo. The riders refused to race the following day, in protest against their treatment, which led to the cancellation of stage 18 between Imperia and San Anna di Vinadio. Italy’s Dario Frigo, who was in second place overall, was dismissed by his team and left the race after doping products were found in his room. After an analysis of substances taken away in the raid, 86 people, including doctors and team managers, were later placed under investigation.

The world track championships were held at the indoor Sportpaleis velodrome in Antwerp, Belg., in September. Arnaud Tournant of France won the individual kilometre time trial for the fourth successive year and gained gold medals in the individual sprint and three-man-team Olympic sprint. Nancy Contreras Reyes won Mexico’s first-ever senior world title, in the women’s 500-m time trial. In October Tournant became the first rider to beat one minute for a standing-start kilometre, covering the distance in 58.875 sec with an average speed of 61.146 km/h (about 38 mph) on the La Paz, Bol., track, which had an altitude of 3,417 m (11,211 ft).